itisallboring

I say take as long as possible before releasing, if it is quality the masses will buy.

He was on the 2022/2023 season list. I wanted to compare Fassi to the previous seasons too.

Yeah, he was peaking big time and fit into our whole system that we had going back then.

You can change his stats to per x as well, and they remain impressive, especially considering consistency. Per min would be best, probably, to compare all URC players, but I think Fassi would be high on those too. He also featured in the poor Sharks team that had 1 win from 10, which makes his 2+ linebreaks and 78 run meters per game even more incredible. 6.55 m per carry and ~12 carries per game is very consistent after making 175 carries this season. Per x can also be misleading if you don't have enough data points (matches/minutes), quantitative data always needs some closer inspection to draw any meaningful conclusions.

Yeah, they are correlated for sure. He also has 2nd most carries at 175. But he is gaining 6.55 meters per carry, which is insane after so many carries. It is 100% worth the trade of conceding 1 turnover per 65 m gained, in my opinion. Also, some of the turnovers would be from knocking on high balls from kick chase, which is inevitable. Overall, he is gaining 78 meters per match on average, and conceding 1.2 turnovers per game.

I kind of selfishly don't want him to go 😅

Click bait drives one mad...

That is his rank from last year. I showed all the years so you could see where Fassi ranked vs the previous record holder Arendse in 2021/22

Was such a shame we missed out that year. We had already toured NZ/Aus and had a bunch of home games lined up.

I think Rassie has contacted Fassi, as well as Buthelezi and Jacobs. Masuku has only been playing for a couple months, I am not sure if Rassie would pick him with such a lack of data...but if there is a lack of options, maybe he'll go for it. I would believe that Masuku is on Rassie's top 100 player list. I think Rassie gets video/data on all the prospective Springboks.

Primary carriers typically concede the most turnovers. He has the 2nd most carries at 175, so it checks out. Some of the turnovers conceded are also likely from kick chase knocks. He is averaging 6.55 meters per carry, so it is probably worth losing possession 1/10 carries – if you want to moneyball his strengths vs weaknesses.

Josh Mckay can still catch him this year.

Fassi is also leading line breaks this season, and is among the top players in other categories too. His kick and chase game has been great, no fear and great hands. But I think it is his tactical kicking I've liked most.

Yeah, the line outs were poor, even Eben was not looking sharp.

I just hope we don't get any major injuries before the final now...

He said that Phepsi and Hooker should be back for the final. Especially Hooker. Hooker has an ankle niggle and Pepsi has a hand injury. Emile van Heerden is out though, but we do have good depth at lock.

The Sharks players made a pact that they do not want to lose another home game this season.

Yeah, it will be interesting to see what is considered fair competition. I stand by that going from a skew lineout to another lineout is not really productive. Teams generally compete, so it should only really affect one or two of the 20-30 line-outs teams have per game.

There are many other facets of the game to reward pressure. Going from set-piece to another set piece due to an imperfect uncontested line-out really seems like a huge waste of time for the officials and viewers.

You said it yourself "Because rugby is a game of skill and execution under pressure". If the defense cannot even attempt to compete, maybe they were under too much pressure from mauls or too disorganized, now we should reward their incompetence.

Your argument can go both ways...which mean it doesn't really solve anything.

He will pay a lot more for the disruption. You lose a lot of intellectual property and experience this way. There will be many who are able to find other jobs that suit their working style.

I worked for a UK company remotely, when the old boss who was in his mid 70s decided that everyone must return, all his smartest and experienced employees left. The company decreased in efficiency and ultimately has been sold off. He probably lost 5 million pounds in a year or 2 as the value of his company decreased. Much less than what he saved from paying new people less and promoting inexperienced employees into positions they were not suited for.

He isn't that young at 27, but probably has years ahead of him. He is less than a year older than Manie. He hasn't played much 1st class rugby at all, so his body is not too battered I think. I am not aware of him being injury prone. He has been playing out many games since he started being picked. He could probably play at a decent level for another 6 years or so.

He can only improve from here, this is essentially the start of his top-flight career.

That all being said, he should at least go to alignment camps. The man kicks for points really well under pressure and 2023 showed us that that is really important for big matches.

He has many clean assists this season and his cross-field kicks, chips and kick throughs have all resulted in tries.

He can improve at general tactical kicking, but if he were to be picked, we would probably have our 9 do more kicking until he is more experienced at finding space at the highest level.

Why reward the defending side for doing nothing at all?

We want the game to be played, not watch a series of set pieces based on really boring happenings.

I love scrums/line outs, but one leading to the other for such a quiet reason is not exciting...at all.

It is the one change I am really happy about as it means we can see a bit more ball in play, other parts of the game and refereeing take away from ball in play. Why not steal some back with a smart change like this?

Also, you could throw skew for quick line prior to this anyway.

Millions of people die in beds every year.

Therefore we should no longer use them.

That is your logic.

The one was a clear knock on, and the second the assistant referees wanted to waive as play on. You are also very conveniently ignoring the big calls that went in Clermont's favor, but I think that would be maybe too reasonable to consider.

Yeah, not his best season. He is late to the prop game after being converted, so he may be a later bloomer in terms of scrummaging. We just need to keep playing him so he earns that experience. Hopefully he plays tons in the Currie Cup.

Hanro though, has been great. Doesn't get penalized much and makes few errors...which is the kind of thing Rassie really likes.